Proverbs | Fear The Lord (February 14th, 2021) - Mike Armstrong

Well, if you would grab your Bible right now, maybe you've got it on your phone, or you've got the good old school, old-fashioned uh paper version, and turn it to the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament, Proverbs 1.

And so maybe as you can tell, we're starting a new series here this morning in Proverbs.

Now, Proverbs is wisdom literature.

Okay, that is the genre of Proverbs.

And we're getting into this because I think literally every single day, you and I are faced with countless moments that expose our need for wisdom.

Do you feel that?

I know I do.

I know we all have questions uh that come up all the time.

Questions like, you know, how how should I handle that really difficult person in my life?

Right?

What's the best way to proceed with this?

Do I do I just withdraw from the person and maybe it's toxic?

And you know, how how do I handle that?

Or do I do I kind of grab the bull by the horns and go into confrontation mode?

Right?

Do I do that?

How do I do that?

Do I simply pray for the person?

Do I go at this alone?

Or do I get counselors and people around me?

Or is that gossip?

You know, like how how do we handle even one situation like that requires such wisdom, doesn't it?

Perhaps for you, you're trying to figure out like how do I plan for the future?

Like, like, like saving money and preparing myself for a future spouse potentially, or or how do I work hard in that and yet at the same time believe, recognize, and lean into the fact that it's the Lord who directs and guides my step and all of that.

He is sovereign over my future.

He has a plan for me.

So, how do I work all of that together in a way that is that is wise?

Okay, maybe for you it's questions that just come up all the time about like how do I how do I get the handle uh and up uh the upper hand on my parenting?

You know, regardless how of how old your your children might be.

There's always questions about that.

For you, it might be just finances or or or or how do I get the upper hand on my sexual desires, or or maybe it's just laziness that's creeping in.

And I see that the scriptures say some things about that in Proverbs.

And I you know, you throw all of those questions into a blender mixed with all the other ones that I'm sure you have that I haven't mentioned, and you add a you know a little sprinkle of pandemic and and lockdowns to it, and I mean it becomes very easy to I think just be very overwhelmed and feel very underprepared for handling life.

Perhaps you feel that.

I think sometimes I do, uh, maybe more than sometimes I do.

And so hence why we're going to the Proverbs here this morning and over the next uh number of weeks.

And so as we kind of build a foundation for what we're gonna be talking uh about here, I think it's really good for us to just start with a definition here uh of what uh of what a proverb even is.

And so this is gonna be uh on the screen for you, but here's what a proverb is it's just a short saying that expresses a general truth for practical godly living.

All right, so so I think something really important for us to just kind of understand here is that proverbs aren't promises, strictly speaking.

Okay, but but rather they're they're an acknowledgement of common reality.

Okay, that's what they are.

And so let me just give you kind of an example of what I mean by that.

Uh many of you, if you grew up in a Christian home or you're a Christian parent, you've probably, you know, you're familiar with Proverbs 22, verse 6, which says, train up a child.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child.

When he is old, he will not depart from it, he will not leave that teaching.

Okay, that being said, I think we all realize here, we all know that not every child who is raised in a Christian home grows up to actually follow Christ.

Right?

Some children, you know, even the ones that look like they're doing really well through junior high, high school, even college, sometimes they grow up and they depart from the faith and they reject the teaching of their parents, much to the pain and concern of their parents.

And so I think we know this here.

We see this.

Train up a child, and when he grows old, he will not depart from it.

Okay, but then again, some do.

And so I think again, it's it's it's good for us to realize here that there are exceptions to the Proverbs.

The Proverbs, by definition, leave room for that for that.

I again remember that these are general truths.

Generally speaking, these things happen, but of course, there are exceptions.

And so I guess what I'm trying to say here is that you and I, as we come before the Proverbs, we have to, I think, be careful of just how far we press the maybe the literalness of that or the guarantee of the Proverbs.

All right, so as we begin today in our text, I think it's it's critical that we start at the very foundation of what wisdom actually is.

I know I've said before that that uh wisdom and knowledge are actually they're different things.

Sometimes they're used interchangeably in the scriptures, and I think we see that here in our verse.

Uh, but they are they are also different.

Okay, wisdom is not just accumulating a bunch of head knowledge.

Okay, uh it's not just about being a book smart person and knowing the answer to things.

Okay, that that's knowledge.

Wisdom is actually knowledge applied.

Okay, so when you take the knowledge that you've accumulated and actually live according to that, then then you are a wise person.

Okay, so what we're gonna look at here is we're gonna break down even further than that, okay, what Proverbs 1 verse 7 says.

Proverbs 1:7

And here's our point for us this morning.

It's it's this I will become wise when I first and foremost fear the Lord.

When I first and foremost fear the Lord.

That's what we see in Proverbs 1, verse 7.

Proverbs 1:7

Why don't you read it along uh with me here?

It says this the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

Okay, but then look at this.

It says, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

All right, so if you're not familiar with the with the Proverbs, they set up this contrast all throughout.

Uh here's what a wise person does, here's what a wise person looks like, here's who a wise person is, and then here in it contrasts that with the foolish person.

Here's what foolish people do, this is how they live, this is how they think, this is how they act and what they say.

Okay, and so you see this out in front of us through the Proverbs, so that you and I can look at this and say, okay, am I a wise person or am I more of a of a fool?

Okay, and and as and as believers, the Lord is creating us into being more wise and more wise, but each of us have foolish tendencies.

And so we're we're looking to pinpoint those, to see those, and then and then grow in wisdom in those areas.

Okay, so first off, as I think as we look at this verse here, I think we need to really ask the question uh, what does it mean to fear the Lord?

Okay, what does it mean?

Okay, for you, maybe when you hear fear of the Lord, you're like, man, that doesn't sound like a good thing.

Isn't fearing a bad thing?

It just automatically sounds negative, doesn't it?

But obviously, here it's telling us that fear of the Lord is a good thing.

And so so so how are we supposed to understand the fear of God with fear of the Lord?

Well, we've got kind of three things here, three layers, okay, to what the fear of the Lord is.

This will be uh on the screen for you as well.

You can jot these down if you're taking notes.

Okay, what does it mean to fear the Lord?

First thing here.

Uh awe and wonder.

Okay, a big component of fearing God is this sense of awe.

Fear literally, it's talking about this reverence of the Lord.

It's this this deep, you know, blown away, wow, type of respect that you have in your soul when you consider the Lord, when you see his handiwork, when when he moves in your life, when you read the pages of the scriptures, you are filled with this awe and wonder of his holiness for one, right?

His absolute moral perfection, his purity.

It's like, wow, because that's it's so different from us, right?

He is holy, he is perfect.

Maybe for you, the awe and wonder is about his justice and just how serious he is about sin, but how he is resolute on taking care of sin and providing an escape from sin for us.

That is Jesus Christ.

Maybe for you, that that awe and wonder you have is about his kindness, right?

And you think about the sacrifice of Jesus and how we deserve death, we deserve punishment, but but in his kindness, he provides us a way out through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus.

Again, it begins to fill us with an awe and a wonder.

That's the first thing of fear of the Lord.

The second thing, we have to remember this too, is holy terror.

Now, maybe you're thinking, terror, that's like the last thing I want to experience emotionally, but a holy terror is a really good thing for us.

And I'm not talking about like an anxiety or a worry about that if you are a Christian, okay, but rather there's this holy terror at what God is capable of.

Right?

You read through the scriptures and you see some of the stories, right, of of what God has done and what God is capable of doing.

And that should be like, whoa, that that is that is serious business here.

When you think about God's discipline, maybe you've experienced that in your life, the heavy hand of the Lord on you as he disciplines you for foolishness, and you're like, man, I realized that the Lord could undo things and pull the rug out from us very, very easily.

I don't have as much control as I thought I had.

Right?

I don't have as much ability to make my life what I want it to be.

Right?

The Lord is, wow, a holy terror.

That's a that's a healthy thing for a Christian.

We need that.

Third thing here, what does it mean to fear the Lord?

It's it's humility and submission.

I think this one comes as a result of the first two, right?

And this is not just uh uh a saying the right things to make us look humble, right?

It's actually a heart posture of yielding to the Lord in every way.

Right?

When we're in awe of him, when we have this wonder, when there's that holy terror, we will humble ourselves, right?

We will submit ourselves to him in every single way because we see that he is good, we see that he is great, and we realize that we are not, and so listen, that is what fear of the Lord really is.

Does any of that describe your posture towards the Lord?

Does it describe your relationship with him?

Because notice very carefully with me here in the in the verse again, notice how the fear of the Lord is it's the starting place for wisdom.

Right?

You see how it uses the word beginning there?

Fear of the Lord, it's not the finish line.

You're not accumulating knowledge so that someday at the end of your life you can get to this place of finally fearing God.

That's that's not what it is.

Listen, if you haven't, you know, if if you don't fear the Lord, you haven't even begun the journey towards wisdom.

Okay, but when you're struck by what we've just talked about, that awe, that that, that, that terror, that submission, that's the fear, right?

Uh you now have that that proper and in and acute awareness of who God is and and who you are in relation to Him.

Okay, when the fear of the Lord has gripped your heart and and your soul and and your mind, then you're actually able at that point to view and really approach life on the right footing, on the uh you know, with with wisdom.

Right?

Then you're able to act properly.

Meaning you'll actually want to live in a way that pleases him.

You'll actually want to live a life of submission to him, and you'll want to think and in every area of your life in a way that brings God glory.

And of course, you'll come to him when you need help and and you're not really sure how to do that.

Listen, church, if if you've gotten away from from the from the place where your heart is is shaken by by just a genuine fear of the Lord, you might be wondering, man, how do how do I get back to that?

I remember being in that place months ago, or or maybe it was years ago.

But I haven't been there for a while.

Listen, the only way, the only way to get back to that fear of the Lord place is through repentance.

It's only an ever that pathway.

You you cannot, you and I, we cannot circumnavigate around repentance and not and not go that direction and then somehow arrive at fearing God and wisdom.

So listen, if if there is too, you know, just too much pride in you lately and you're sensing that, the Holy Spirit is exposing that to you here right now.

Perhaps for you, it's just there's been way too much self-assurance.

Like I like I got this, I I can do this, I don't need the Lord, I don't need community, I don't need people.

Maybe for you, there's just too much of that swagger and that, like, I've kind of arrived as a Christian.

I remember needing a message like this back in my earlier days, but now I've kind of made it.

Listen, if we've got any shred of any of that, can I just urge us and encourage us, church, here this morning, to just lay that down before the Lord in like this heartfelt and very real sorrow.

Okay, because it means that our pride has has gotten the best of us here and we and we don't fear him, and we're not getting anywhere without that.

I think it's really good for me when I start to think about this is to really fear the God who could end me if he wanted to.

That's a sobering thought, but uh the thing I have to remember is that because of Jesus Christ, he never will end me.

He's invited me into a relationship with him.

And as I think about what he's capable of, but I think about what he has done for me, I mean it's like again, it's sobering, but it's also this this glorious thought as well.

And I think as we get to that kind of a place, we start out on the path towards wisdom.

Hey, some of us, I think, here, you know, maybe for you, you were you were invited to view this service today.

Someone sent you the link, or someone invited you, and you're, you know, you're at the office now and and you're kind of wondering, like, how did I even end up here in this kind of upstairs room in this random building in in New Market?

And what is really happening?

But for you, you've got questions about your life and you don't know how to proceed in different areas, and you're like, I need answers, and I, you know, need wisdom, and and and sure, if it's if you're saying that it's God that can give that to me, I I need to ask him for help in the various practical areas of my life.

I would say that that is really good.

But listen, you need to understand that it starts, wisdom starts with with a relationship with God first.

You need to you need to know him.

And and that really comes down to recognizing that you have offended him.

And you've offended him through your sin.

And if you're thinking, hang on a second, the preachy, judgy, pastor guy on a screen, like you don't even know me, man.

What I would say is that I was in the same boat.

Right?

Every single person is.

We've all offended God, we've all sinned.

None of us are perfect.

And I think sometimes we like to, we we we naturally make light of that and we don't take that very serious, but the scriptures tell us that our sin is against this holy and perfect God who wants to be in a relationship with us but can't, because sin is like this barrier.

And this sin that is against the the God who made it uh uh made us is it makes us worthy of punishment, it makes us worthy of wrath, it makes us worthy of an eternity in hell, which is misery for all eternity.

And as that kind of settles on us, it's it's a dark thought and it's a it's an awful thought.

But we also need to realize that this God who must deal with sin, he's not gonna excuse it, he can't sweep it away like it didn't happen.

This God who must deal with this because he's a God of justice is also a God of love.

He's a God who loves you uh enough to actually make a way for that sin to be forgiven, to make that sin to remove it from your account so that you don't have to pay for it with your life and with your eternity.

And that plan was a person, and that person's name is Jesus.

And that's why God sent his son to live the perfect life that you and I we can't live.

We're so flat.

I've I've I've made I've sinned this morning as it is already, I've sinned today.

And so have you, probably.

Definitely.

And so listen, we need Jesus to live that holy life for us, and he did.

And then he died on the cross as a sacrifice for you.

He died the death that you deserve.

When he died on the cross 2,000 years ago, that was God the Father pouring out his wrath on Jesus where it was satisfied.

And so you can know God if you would believe that Jesus did that for you, if you would embrace Jesus as your Savior, if you would confess and just admit your sinfulness to God and say, I want to receive Jesus as Savior, I realize that what Jesus did that was for me.

Lord, would you forgive me?

You do that, and and you're a follower of Christ, and you were automatically already right there in that moment.

Wise, you're growing in it, and you can grow in the path towards deeper wisdom and greater wisdom, even.

And the Lord will answer your cries and desire to help you throughout life.

And listen, that's what we all need.

And so, what we're gonna do here in uh in the next few moments is we are going to uh gather ourselves if you're at home and maybe you can get your family together and and we can pray.

We're gonna have some points uh up on the screen that you can be praying through.

Uh John is gonna be up here, he's gonna be leading us through a song as well.

That can be for you to just, you know, you can pray through that as that music is happening in the background.

You can, you know, join him as you pray, as as you feel uh led.

But again, this is a time of prayer where we can come before the Lord and ask for help and ask for wisdom and ask that he would create this fear of him in us so that we would be wise.

So, really looking forward to this series with us as we uh together as we tackle a number of different areas uh that we experience in life and seek to apply wisdom to them.

And so, as we get started off here this morning, I just want to pray.

And again, in about 10 minutes' time, I'll see you at the 9.50 uh Zoom prayer time for those uh who are able.

But let's pray.

Join me as we do that, Lord.

We thank you again for this time today.

Lord, this time where we can just be reminded of what wisdom is.

Lord, wisdom is fearing you.

God, forgive us for the times this week, maybe today already, where we have irrefutable evidence through the way we've acted or the way that we have thought, through the various desires of our heart, we've shown and revealed that we're not wise and we don't fear you.

And so, God, rather than kicking ourselves about all of that and beating ourselves up mercilessly about all of that, Lord, I pray that we would bring it to you, Lord, where it can be forgiven.

Lord, I pray that we would bring that to you, the God who is wise, the God who gives us wisdom when we ask, as James talks about.

Lord, I pray that you would fill us with a new, fresh sense of awe and wonder at who you are and what you've done.

I pray that you would fill us with a holy terror at what you are capable of, Lord, your amazing, unlimited power.

Lord, I pray that as we consider these things and experiencing experience these things, Lord, we'd be filled with humility and submit ourselves to you, Lord, not just in word, but in the way that our hearts operate, Lord, that it would lead to uh living that is in line with this.

And so, God, I pray this would be a sweet time of prayer as a church, a sweet time of worship.

Lord, continue to grow us, continue to glorify Christ.

We pray this in your name.

Amen.